A qualitative study of experiences of asylum-seeker women of living in detention centres: confinement versus safety

Abstract

A qualitative study of experiences of asylum-seeker women of living in detention centres: confinement versus safetyBackground: Australia has been at the forefront of legislation for compulsory detention for asylum seekers arriving by boat. Iranians are amongst the highest number of boat arrivals.More women than men have been subject to compulsory detention. Women, generally, face more health-threatening problems rather than men in detention, yet, remain understudied in health and social research. This study aimed to inform healthcare providers about the experiences of living in immigration detentions, which might affect asylum seekers' mental health and treatment process.Method: A qualitative study using in-depth semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis.Results: Participants (n=17) who had experienced a period of detention shared their experiences. . Living in a prison-like environment was perceived as a punishment for their boat arrival and violated their privacy and dignity. On the other hand, a sense of safety and security, free access to healthcare services, and the opportunity to build social networks were positive aspects of short-term detention. Conclusion: To prevent further trauma, living conditions in detention must be conducive to promoting coping and adjustment. Moreover, the length of detention should be minimised and considered an opportunity to prepare new arrivals for facing a new socio-cultural environment.Impact statement: Findings of this study can provide healthcare providers, in particular nurses, an insight about this population's background and difficulties they experienced in detention and their negative psychological impacts which might affect treatment plan.

A Report on the Impact of Immigration Detention on the Health and Well-being of Refugees & Asylum Seekers

“…Feelings of hopelessness, worry, despair, and fear (see Figure 2). The immigration detainees whose stories were captured in the studies (Cleveland et al, 2018;Coffey et al, 2010;Kronick et al, (2018); Passardi et al, 2022;Peterie, 2018;Shishehgar et al, 2021) reported that they were treated like criminals and kept in jail-like or prison-like facilities. Here, the culture of detention creates a loss of individual freedom and a violation of the detainees' human rights because they do not have the liberty to move around within the detention facilities or even go out of the facility.…”

“…Here, the culture of detention creates a loss of individual freedom and a violation of the detainees' human rights because they do not have the liberty to move around within the detention facilities or even go out of the facility. Detainees in the study (Shishehgar et al, 2021) reported that their rooms were like cages, closed and confined environments unsuitable for living in, and they wished they were freed.…”

“…It looked like a cage … Officers entered occasionally into my room without knocking the door … I wanted to go back to Iran from the Christmas Island detention. (Shishehgar et al, 2021, p.6, Elena, 28) Participants in the studies (Cleveland et al, 2018;Shishehgar et al, 2021) reported that they experienced public shame and humiliation because they were transported in prison-like cars for hospital check-ups and were made to wait in the waiting rooms with shackles on their feet or hands cuffed. Immigration detainees felt shamed and belittled because of the manner in which they have been treated in those immigration detention facilities.…”

“…Immigration detainees felt shamed and belittled because of the manner in which they have been treated in those immigration detention facilities. Participants in the studies (Cleveland et al, 2018;Coffey et al, 2010;Shishehgar et al, 2021) their existence or what they had done wrong. They further reported that they were only refugees asking for protection, wondering why they had to be treated like criminals or prisoners.…”

“…The immigration detainees whose stories were captured in the studies (Cleveland et al, 2018;Coffey et al, 2010;Kronick et al,2018;Passardi et al, 2022;Peterie, 2018;Shishehgar et al, 2021) have also experienced a loss of personal agency in the detention because of power relations between the detainees and the people who work in the facilities. These workers in the facilities had a significant degree of power over the lives of the detainees.…”